JoRoy218

For us, hands down Emerald! We spend a good bit of morning time on the balcony and this is main reason why we strongly dislike Regal and Royal.

Emerald also has a great Promenade deck and a mod size ship (compared to Regal, etc.). 

3 hours ago, MileHighAko said:

It's worth going to the MDR on embarkation day for lunch because they serve an orange soufflé that is delicious.

Yes yes yes! 

No, they are unloaded from the bus at the pier, you briefly grab bags. There always seem to be employees present (not Princess) who will attempt to relieve you of your bags and have the other hand out for a tip while saying “I’ll make sure your bags get onto ship safely.” They then transfer the bags about 10 feet away to a large cart for delivery to ship. They’re not shy about this at all. You can tell FLL not my favorite port.  It’s reality when cruising from some ports but I believe (so far) FLL is the worst. Sorry, I may get blasted for this post, 

Have been able to “re-fare” on two cruises but was before final payment. Used Princess chat, quick and easy. 

We just made this decision two days ago. We’ve been on the Regal 4 times, chosen not for the ship but the itinerary. She’s a beautiful ship but too big for us. We also dislike the minuscule balconies (we spend a lot of time, morning and evening out there.) We enjoy the Emerald, older but more traditional ship with a wonderful promenade deck, not to mention decent sized balconies. Decided on Iceland and British Isle itinerary on Emerald, Sept. 1, 2025. Roll Call is amazingly active for 13 mos. out. 

We were on the Emerald a few months ago and visited Skywalkers almost every night.  Our preference most nights (depending on the entertainment of the evening) is to eat later. We felt like Skywalkers was underutilized on many visits and on a few evenings, the “bites” they had available were satisfying enough, we skipped the DR for dinner, We also tried many of their “special” drinks. 

58 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Pro Tip - If you know you are going to do a load or 2 - get your tokens from a working machine or customer service before you have your clothes in hand and find the token machines out of order or out period.

Yes! Great advice. We were on the Emerald a few months ago, dragged the stuff to our laundry room, machine out of tokens. Thought no big deal…ran up another deck…they were out too…down two decks…yup, out also.

Had to stand on line at Guest Services, finally got back to my laundry, all machines taken. Ugh! Time to visit one of the bars for afternoon cocktail.

Also want to add as above, don’t plan on doing laundry on sea days or last day of cruise. We luck out and do a load usually around 5pm while others are getting ready for dinner. We like eating later so this works well for us. 

Sorry you got it, hoping it’s mild and uncomplicated. Hubby and I had two visits from the Covid virus. In Dec. 22 (on Regal) he turned positive, got 5 days isolation, minimal symptoms and was fine. Without requesting, Princess did give him FCC for the 5 days of isolation.  Fast forward to this year on

S American cruise in Feb. (on Sapphire) I turned positive, was isolated for 3 days, got no FCC. It was like Covid not a big deal anymore. Hubby was checked on daily by medical center, when I got it, nobody from med ctr. called until the third day when they said I was released from isolation. Serious relaxation of policy. 

Appreciate all the above input. There are the above mentioned exclusions at this time. 

I thought so too but attempted to make a reservation and they wanted $500 pp. for a Dec. cruise. 

Anyone aware of upcoming $99. deposit specials? We missed the last one, ready to make more reservations. Thanks! 

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Any cabins available on that deck at the aft? That's our preferred location. Easy access to the Terrace Pool and a short staircase up to the buffet.

We usually do prefer aft cabins and have done so many times. This area (mid-ship) is Suites (special occasion sailing). Thanks very much for replying! 

Appreciate any feedback re: reserving an Emerald Riviera cabin (Deck 14 mid-ship). Am concerned about being right below Neptune pool, coffee/cones, usual Lido deck activities. I always make sure we’re not below the Lido deck when making reservations but this is a good price and anxious to confirm. We usually sleep in on cruises and don’t want to hear before dawn scraping of lounge chairs, etc. and kids running directly above us. Been there, not doing it again. Thanks for anyone who has their “two cents” to contribute. 

On 2/4/2024 at 3:44 PM, alrischa said:

I would appreciate some input on reasons to choose between these two cruises based on the itinerary differences.  Timing would be December 2025.  Thanks!

The bottom itinerary looks like the one we’re on right now. The Sapphire is a great ship. Weather has been perfect, haven’t missed a post. We love Princess! Go for it! 

On 2/17/2024 at 6:28 PM, Mercruiser said:

If you want seat assignments on LATAM, then call LATAM. Similar to you, I booked LATAM flights using Alaska miles. I had to call LATAM to get seat assignments.

 

LATAM business class in 787s is very nice and spacious 

We too were routed on Latam GRU-SCL. Could not get seats on Delta site, went to Messenger, typed in Latam.com, got someone in a short period of time, got the seats I requested,  done within 5 min. Refreshing! 
And yes, the BClass seats are incredibly comfy and plenty of room in Business cabin. We didn’t have any of the Flight Attendants with good knowledge of English but we muddled through. That was the only downer but guess I shouldn’t be an “ugly American.” 

On 2/15/2024 at 5:27 PM, compozer said:

I am working on changing the flight.  Skipping Lima and flying direct to Atlanta.

 

thanks again.

We recently did the same. We are on the Sapphire right now, were reserved on  EZE/LIM/ATL, was very tight connection in Lima of only 1.5 hrs. Delta made

changes and made it even shorter. They have a good policy that changes can be made without additional charge if times are altered. Fortunately there was room on a non-stop EZE-ATL. We are thrilled! 

We are on the Sapphire right now. Fortunately she made it into Stanley two days ago. We reserved a spot with Shaun Jaffray (to Volunteer Point) as mentioned above, two years ago. It was an outstanding excursion. First off, he requests no deposit up front because many ships have to cancel Stanley visit due to harsh weather in this area. Re: waiting for large crowds, our group was made up of 14 Land Rovers (4 people in each) and they travelled the same trail to and from. There was no hold up waiting for others. Caution: 50% of the ride to and from was VERY rough grass/dirt trails with frequent jarring potholes. Those with chronic neck or back issues may regret the 2 hrs each way. On a positive note, there were hundreds of King Penguins, along with Gentoo. The Volunteers present remind the visitors about respecting these beautiful animals.

Another more reasonable tour though fewer penguins to be observed, is using the local bus to Gypsy Cove, $20 each way.  
It was a magical day! The town of Stanley is cute as well.

Yes, curious about same. Thanks. 

9 hours ago, Travels with Lisa said:

Could anyone recommend a transfer company to take us from our hotel in Satiago to the cruise port in San Antonio?  We don't need a tour, just a transfer.

 

TIA

Looking for same! Feb ‘24

1 hour ago, lahore said:

Could I ask please what Paxlovid costs on the ship?  Thank you.   If you don't have the itemised cost for the Paxlovid, an idea of what the covid treatment cost in total would be helpful, thank you.  (Reason for asking, buying Paxlovid in Australia to take 'just in case' costs over $1000 so wondering if it's worth it).  Thanks for any help you can give.

Just looked up ship Dr charges: Paxlovid was $750., charge for Dr $99.
AON took care of the above, lots of paperwork and receipts of course but it all worked out.  This was from Jan ‘23. 

Positive update to this thread: I’m the OP and spent way too much time attempting to resolve this issue. In short, after many looooong phone wait times and calls, being shuffled from person to person, to AA, back to EZAir , etc etc (you get the drift) I took the good advice of a fellow CC  member and went straight to the top. I was very hesitant to do that but after almost 3 months of multiple emails, phone calls and absolutely no resolution, had to change direction.

So, started out with email: customer relations, cc to jpadgett, lwarren and csteinke.

Amazingly, I got a call the next afternoon from a “Senior Administrator” who wanted to hear the dynamics of what happened, listened well, said they would follow up with EZAir, gave me their direct line and promised to get back to me within a few days. She did call back a few days later, stated “unable to figure out why your flights were changed at the last minute” and offered me two choices which were equal to the amount we paid for our return flight home. It’s sad that you have to jump to the top for a solution. But, it’s done. Whew!

I need to add my two cents here. DH was diagnosed with Covid on the Regal in January this year. Since we were out of the US our plan stated they did not cover. Once we got home, we filed a claim with AON (as mentioned above) and a large portion of the medical expenses incurred was covered. It didn’t take as long as we expected. (PS Hubby did fine, we’re both boosted, he took Paxlovid and turned neg by day 5).

Princess even credited him with 5 days worth FCC). 😎

We were on the Emerald in June, spent an afternoon in the Sanctuary.

Yes, teatime still exists. Love it! So much food to choose from. My favorite is the orange scones, complete with jam and cream. 

Sabatini’s every time! 

Same here, from June cruise. Am anxiously awaiting anEZAir refund and thought somehow was related?  Crazy!